WARRINGTON North MP Charlotte Nichols has expressed her disappointment at the decision to approve controversial plans for a large HGV logistics depot at the Trident Business Park, Risley, as local residents say they are preparing to issue a formal complaint.
Ms Nichols, said the council’s Development Management Committee who voted 7-2 to approve the application, following officer advice, had unfortunately only operated “according to the laws” while the applicants “completely disregarded” the concerns of many.
Ms Nichols said: “I was disappointed to hear that the proposals for Trident Business Park were approved. I met with residents to discuss their concerns and I know how hard they campaigned against the plans.
“Despite the strong opposition led by the local community, and supported by local Labour councillors and myself, the applicant decided to pursue the proposals and in doing so, completely disregarded our many concerns.
“Planning policy is set by the Conservative Government. The Conservatives create the rules, set the targets and force local councils to apply them, even if it’s against the wishes of our communities- the DMC is a statutory body and can unfortunately only operate according to the laws as they are now, not the ones we hope to have in the future which will give residents greater control.
Meanwhile local residents of Risley say they are “truly devastated” at the approval of the planning permission to put two large logistic centres on Trident Business Park, near their homes.
The application was approved at the Development Management Committee on June 22nd 2023 and those campaigning against the application say “the outcome just couldn’t have been worse”.
A spokesperson for the opposition group set up to fight the plan said: “This decision will impact the residents of Risley and the wider surrounds for generations to come.
“Despite the unanimous support of Birchwood Town Council who spoke against the development at the DMC meeting, Cllr Ellis also advised the committee that Charlotte Nichols MP for Warrington North was aware of the content of what the speakers were saying on the night and was fully supportive of what was being said on behalf of the residents of Risley.
“After an 18-month valiant fight, the application was approved with 36 conditions, not one single condition will benefit the residents of Risley and the wider surrounds of Culcheth, Croft and Glazebury, in fact we suspect most of the conditions are a mechanism to discharge the council’s responsibility to the applicant.
“As residents we engaged an independent Town and Country Planning Consultancy which operates nationally to review the application and speak at the DMC meeting on our behalf. The finished report of 33 pages cited several material reasons why this application could and should be lawfully rejected as well as presenting a number of case precedents. Unfortunately planning officers chose to ignore the report and did not share this valuable unbiased information with the voting members of the DMC committee.
“Rather than being defeated the residents of Risley are back at their desks and preparing to challenge this decision and will leave no stone unturned.
“As with most things there are procedures we need to follow. We will start by formally complaining to Warrington Borough Council, this will not be a “sour grapes” complaint but a complaint that is factual and backed up with substantial hard evidence, if we are not satisfied with the response, we will move onto the Local Government Ombudsmen & the Planning Inspectorate. In conjunction with this action, we are meeting in the next few days with our planning consultants and legal advisors to consider issuing Warrington Borough Council Planning Department with a “Letter Before Action” which is formal notification of our intent to take legal action against them.
“Far from being unreasonable, we understand that Trident Business Park needs regeneration, and the owners have a right to make it a financially viable business. Over the past 15 years several planning applications have been approved without a single residential objection. This application the size and scale, bringing with it a large increase in traffic particularly HGVs is simply not suitable for the location or the local road infrastructure, nor is its proposed 24/7 365 day operating hours, which are unprecedented on Trident, Birchwood Business Park and Birchwood Science Park.”
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3 Comments
I don’t care a jot about political affiliation but I do care about having a functional council that works for everyone and where business and residents are treated in an equal and balanced manner. You cannot blame another party for the fact that the planning departments review & assessment of this application was beyond poor, the application contains blatant lies, inaccuracies, contradictions, poor quality and out if date consultee reports that were not challenged by the planning officers. The application was rudimentary and not fit for purpose and was not fit to presented to the DMC
You will have to work hard to get the planning squashed. I wish you all the very best. If there is anything i can do to help do not hesitate to contact me.
Well that was a useless response from our MP wasn’t it? She seems to be more interested about passing the blame to her political rivals, rather than taking a stand for her constituents and calling it into Parliament! She can blame whoever she wants, but no one can hide from the fact that WBC Planning Officers did not undertake a robust assessment of the application and that’s a fact!!